Korean Keema

I have been wanting to make this Nigella Lawson recipe, from her Kitchen cookbook,  for awhile. It's simple and fast enough for a weekday meal. I did make some substitutions due to what I had on hand; lean ground beef for the ground turkey, jasmine rice for the basmati/sushi rice and freshly grated carrot on the side. Still, this was a successful tasty weekday meal.  Although I have shared the recipe below by all means, visit Nigella Lawson's website for this delicious recipe and more.  

 Nigella Lawson's Korean Keema

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Serves 2 

3/4 cup basmati rice or sushi rice

8 ounces ground turkey

6 thin or 3 fat scallions, chopped

1 cup frozen petits pois (petits peas)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or ground nut oil

2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine 

1 - 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

FOR THE SAUCE:

2 tablespoons Gochjang 

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine

2 tablespoons soy sauce

METHOD

1. Cook the rice according to packet instructions, or in a rice cooker according to manufacturer's instructions. And put a kettle on to boil for the peas later.
2. Whisk together the sauce ingredients, and stir in the ground turkey. Leave to steep for about 5 minutes, or while you are getting on with your next tasks, such as chopping the scallions and blanching the peas.
3. Heat a wok or heavy-based frying pan on the hob. While this is heating up, pour boiling water from the kettle over the frozen peas in a sieve or colander, letting the hot water drain away, thereby defrosting the peas. When the wok is hot, add the oil, then the defrosted peas and chopped scallions. Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes.
4. Add the turkey and its sauce, and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes until cooked.
5. Add the 2 tablespoons rice wine with 4 tablespoons water to swill out the residue of the sauce from the meat-steeping bowl (so that nothing is wasted) and scrape and pour this into the pan, and stir-fry for about 30 seconds until it's all piping hot.
6. Serve over rice, and with a good scattering of chopped cilantro.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe! - JD